Morality in autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Cognition

Background:

• Moral reasoning and decision-making are crucial for behavior and social interactions.
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by differences in commonsense psychology.
• Previous research explored moral judgment differences in ASD, yielding diverse findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and critically evaluate existing literature on moral decision-making in autistic individuals.
• To synthesize current knowledge on moral reasoning in autism spectrum disorder.
• To identify gaps and suggest future research directions.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a systematic literature review.
• Searched for studies investigating moral decision-making in autistic children and adults.
• Identified and analyzed 29 relevant studies.

Main Results:

• Synthesized findings from 29 studies on moral decision-making in ASD.
• Highlighted the diversity of existing research outcomes.
• Identified a need for a comprehensive understanding of morality in ASD.

Conclusions:

• Existing research on moral reasoning in ASD is varied.
• A deficits-based perspective may not fully capture moral development in ASD.
• Future research should explore alternative theoretical frameworks for studying morality in autism spectrum disorder.